Mi-Ne Sushi

A couple of hours prior to deciding to go to Mi-Ne Sushi, I had my Friday off in the heart of downtown – meeting up with a close friend who I’ve known since my elementary school days. With the help of exchanging messages on Messenger, along with some handy text messages, I somehow managed to get in contact with a friend whom I haven’t seen in six years! He recently gotten into photography and had asked me to do the honours of being his model for the day (for which I happily obliged). Joining me on this photoshoot as well was his girlfriend, whom I’ve known since high school, and my friend from UofT. It was a good chunk of time enjoying the Harbourfront area and taking photos with great company.

Eventually, as every day goes for everyone – a scrumptious meal becomes tempting. The four of us decided to pay our visit to Mi-Ne Sushi – which is in close proximity to my condo. This was a pleasant surprise for me, considering the fact that I love Japanese cuisine, and to have it ~5 minutes away from my living quarters, this called for a foodie utopia investigation.

We settled into the well designed Japanese restaurant – greeted by servers in Japanese cultural attire. In many of my foodie visits, one thing that I like is entering an establishment and feeling like I have transported to a different place. Mi-Ne did a great job at doing so in their space.

We sat in one of their booths, ordered everything swiftly and managed to look at the pictures we’ve taken for the day, as well as socialize with one another. It was pleasing being able to connect my friends from high school and my friends from UofT – they seemed to enjoy conversation with one another, especially on the topics of music. I enjoyed listening to my friends get excited over the many music festivals and concerts they’ve been to, and as a bonus, our meals came out with great timing:

A Shareable Dinner: Love Boat for Two

Mi-Ne had options where two people could share a fabulous meal for a collectively reasonable price – one of my friends and I decided to choose this option. The Love Boat for Two included two salads with Japanese sauce and two Miso Soup, a traditional combination for appetizers at any Japanese restaurant. The Miso Soup was served steaming hot and savory, while the salad was refreshing and tasty.

Once the appetizers were nearly finished by my friend and I, the waitress came back with this beautifully displayed sashimi/sushi boat in the shape of a fish (appropriate!). On it was an assortment of all my favourites – salmon, tuna, butterfish, surf clam and octopus sashimi, along with a variety of nigiri sushi. We also had this fine selection of special rolls, I especially liked how the rolls were very filling and had great proportions of fish. My favourite maki on this boat has got to be the ones displayed at the bottom right of the boat – the inside of the maki had avocado, fish eggs, cucumber and some type of fish (I can’t confirm which!). It was a perfect package of flavor every bite, and portions were shareable with my company. I was able to be filled completely, but not too full to the point that I feel overwhelmed with food, so it was perfect! Judging on what was left on the boat – I’m sure that my friend and I had our satisfaction fulfilled.

On the other end of the table, my photographer for the day got himself one of the Maki Sets, which had six salmon rolls, six dynamite rolls and six of the fish egg rolls (the same ones as the rolls on the Love Boat I selected for the night). He managed to eat everything on his plate, and on his account when I inquired about taste, he was pleased with what he ordered.

My other friend’s dish, I must say made me quite curious – she ordered an option pairing a special roll of her choice (she took the Dynamite Roll for her selection) along with a bowl of boiling, hot Seafood Udon as a combination price. First came her rolls which are presented quite nicely, and then came the Udon in a unique, black clay pot which added to the experience of eating this dish. As an option, the waitress handed her a separate bowl and spoon so that she could distribute the soup into that bowl so she could eat. On her account, she seemed to really like this dish and it was satisfying for her – though she claims next time she would get what her boyfriend got instead (the Maki Set).

For me personally, the next time I come to Mi-Ne Sushi, I am determined to select what she got that night – the set up was very enticing and for the price it also seems well-worth it!

For more information on Mi-Ne and their restaurant, take a look at their website! They have various locations and I am sure it will be a good visit for any Foodie Utopian: http://toronto.mine-sushi.com/